Dead Snow (2009)

Written by Stig Frode Henrikson & Tommy Wirkola
Directed by Tommy Wirkola

What better place to set a zombie film than in the white expanses of Norwegian countryside covered in snow? Very few, actually, as this movie proves, and few things look cooler than bright splotches of dark red blood on pure white snow.

Six medical students are set to spend a free weekend at the cabin owned by Sara's parents. However, when they arrive, they are supposed to meet Sara within the day. Instead, a lone wanderer comes to them and asks for coffee. He makes himself at home and tells them the story of a Nazi curse that is on the area. Eventually, he leaves before making the students too uncomfortable, and goes off into the night.

The students try to have fun, and not let the story bother them. But the next day, Sara's boyfriend, Vegard, decides he doesn't want to wait any longer, he's going to go find his girlfriend. Since she still has plenty of time to arrive, they aren't worried, but we can tell the man's story scared Vegard a bit, at least got him to thinking about Sara's safety in general. So he leaves on a ski-mobile.

Then, the Nazi zombies attack, slowly and surely. Using the house as a central location, with strategic planning for escape, the film is a reflection of the claustrophobia present in Night of the Living Dead, and the tension and atmosphere built in these scenes brings this film to the level above and beyond most modern horror, because it's actually scary.

The effects and make up on the Nazi zombies was great, looks to me like some type of make up, but with some CGI enhancement. If there's no CGI enhancement, then that's just a fucking amazing make up job. The gore, while not over the top, is plentiful and well used. The technical aspects, such as camerawork, cinematography, and sound design are all top notch, some fantastic cinematography that doesn't hide anything in the dark, but still uses the dark very well. The Norwegian music used as the soundtrack was also very good, even though I didn't understand the words, each song was used well for the scene it was edited to.

Overall, this is just a film I really enjoyed overall, I don't think I could say bad things about it if someone paid me to.

9.6/10